North Peak of Hozomeen, July 29, 2000
Friday night was spent deciding where to go with a three person party. Long rock routes were out. We considered every possibility in the Cascades over a period of several hours, and somehow ended up with the not-very-bright idea of the North Peak of Hozomeen up in the wilds near Ross Lake and the Canadian border. From the start, we were not very enthused. But we had to go somewhere. Some kind of east or northeast buttress (I forget now) would provide the desired moderate but not lengthy technical climbing, while the north face was a standard route backup plan (class 3, but described as very "alpine"), both easily accessible by a 4-5 hour approach (according to the Beckey guide) from Ross Lake. Greg, Jesse and I decided to leave Seattle at 9am the following morning, feeling that would still allow us time to make the 5 hour drive, and then the 5 hour approach, by sundown. What were we thinking????Hozomeen, and some tourists on Ross Lake.
Just out of Seattle, Jesse realized he had forgotten his sunglasses. Oh well, no problem. Buy a 5$ pair somewhere on the way. We stopped at a new outdoor store in Mt. Vernon (Backcountry Outfitters?) to buy a Hozomeen map. It was then that Greg realized he had forgotten his ice axe. Ain't no way we were going back to Seattle. Instead, he rented one from Backcountry Outfitters, with the big negative that he'd have to drive back up here from Seattle on Monday evening to return it.
Greg and his erect hydration system.
Across the border, into Canadaland, along highway 1 to hope, and then onto Silver-Skagit road, which leads back to the border and Ross Lake in 50km or so. The scenery here was a bit disappointing. We were deep in the North Cascades heartland, with peaks rising 6000ft above us, but all we could see were big green forested slopes. Finally, approaching the border, Hozomeen popped out, a pair of stark rock monoliths erupting from the green-ness, and rising some 6400ft above the lake.
Looking down the US-Canada border swath.
We crossed the unguarded border, and parked at a small ranger station. No one was inside, so we didn't get permits. No other parties had checked in here. The bugs were kind of bad. The sounds of boats and families picnicking and rv'ing ruined the sense of wilderness up here. I've always thought of Ross Lake as kind of remote, but not up here near the Canadian border. Noisy.
Hozomeen approach
We finally found the interpretive "Trail of Obelisk", upon which we would travel a quarter mile or so until we intersected the border swath (the stand of trees cut down to mark the USA-Canada border), which would serve as a route-finding device to get us up the mountain. We took the trail for a while, past a swamp, and then it seemed to be heading back to the road. Where was the swath? Was it even visible anymore? Was no longer obvious as it had been in "Beckey's time"?
We finally found it, and it was pretty obvious. We headed up in brushy forest alongside it. About 3000ft of bushwhacking was to bring us to a drainage leading up a 6500ft col near Hozomeen. We knew it was going to be a little painful, but think of the rewards. Solitude on a high rugged peak.
The obelisk, on Trail Of The Obelisk
It was miserable, slow work. The brush wasn't all that bad by Cascade standards, and in fact some sections of the border swath were downright easy walking, but the bugs! And the heat! It was mid-afternoon, on a 90-degree day, hot sun, millions of mosquitos. The worst mosquitos I've ever experienced in the Cascades, as bad as a bad day back East. DEET was useless (or else it sweated off too quickly).
After 1300ft of bushwhacking, taking a couple of hours, we stopped for a break. We could see the border swath rising far above us, and the lake not very far below. It became obvious that to continue, would be a brutal, miserable ordeal. The longer we pondered this, the worse the bugs became, and the more firm our decision became: we bailed. Didn't even have a fighting chance. The willpower needed to complete this trip would have been amazing.
Jesse puts on a show for kids on Ross Lake.
Back at the road, we met the ranger, and we "checked out", 3 and a half hours after checking in. She said that was pretty common. Only a half dozen to a dozen parties attempt the peak each year.
We went swimming in incredibly warm Ross Lake (~70F), where we were harrassed by unruly little kids in a pedal boat.